Nav Update Odyssey

You know, you'd think getting the bloody Nav system DVD update wouldn't be so difficult...

I called my local dealer in late November of 2005 and told them I needed the following 3 things done:
o ECM update
o Nav DVD update
o Center Console lid replaced due to fabric pulling out.

An appointment was made for 7 December 2005; I asked that they make sure they had all the parts on hand so I could get this all done in one visit. They said, yes, sure, no problem.

Came in on 7 Dec, picked my car up -- they set things up so that you pick up your keys from a fairly clueless cashier rather than someone who knows what was done, so it wasn't until I got home and stared at the papers they gave me that I realized they had only done the ECM update but had to "order parts" for the other two items. *sigh* Wasn't this why I had called and asked them to get the parts?

We were out of town on vacation in late December when they called telling me "the parts were in". I got back and took the car in about the second week of January. Picked it up -- new center console, but some odd comments about the Nav update on the papers. (Something about "recall over".) Checked the version number -- still the old version. *sigh*

When I got the usual call two days later ("to make sure everything went okay" -- why don't you spend your money making sure you communicate properly the first time, please?), I told them precisely what had happened. I also asked them if they'd have someone call me back, please. Someone from Customer Relations did call me back in a couple of days, and tried immediately to tell me that "Toyota mails out letters telling people about updated nav DVDs but that's something you have to pay for -- they're not free." I immediately quoted her the bit about "at no cost" on my LSC letter. Confusion ensues, she tells me she'll get back to me.

No call over two weeks later. I finally call her. Oh, yes, she's sorry she didn't get back to me, but she was trying to follow up with their Toyota rep. (Thanks for telling me that.) Finally, I get a call back today on my answering machine -- Toyota is telling her that the recall is over, the replacement part # is discontinued, there's nothing they can do.

I called the Toyota "Customer Experience Center" and spoke with someone. He kept trying to tell me that my VIN didn't have a DVD SSC on it, just the ECM one. I finally pulled out the letter (after he had put me on hold several times to check with someone) and told him it was an LSC and read him most of it. One more hold. (This was after telling the entire story to him twice.) Finally, he comes back and tells me that there was obviously "some miscommunication with the dealer" and tells me they'll mail the v4.2 DVD directly to me.

Now, if I was able to get the updated DVD out of Toyota after waiting on hold a bunch of times and reading them my letter, why wasn't my dealer able to do so? Frankly, I think they screwed up in December, then tried to order it in January and were told "you're too late", and rather than spend $288 to do the right thing and get me the update, they tried to cover it up.

Anyhow, I'll believe it when the DVD shows up in the mail, but you can sure bet that I'm installing this one myself. I think it's time I start taking my car elsewhere for warranty work -- I already get my routine service stuff done by someone else who's reliable and trustworthy. (Not a Toyota dealer.)

Are there any special routines or procedures to follow to install it yourself?

Sheesh...

Peace and Prosperity,
Dipesh

-<*>---------------------------------------<*>-
Dipesh Navsaria, MPH, MS(LIS), MD
Prospective Resident Physician
Physician Assistant, Pediatrics
Champaign, Illinois, USA
e-mail: [email protected]
web/blog: http://www.navsaria.com

 

Well, to my mild surprise, the DVD showed up in the mail today. It's marked "Map Disk for 03CY Navigation System; North America; This DVD is only for Service Campaign use."

Gee...isn't this the exact same "recall DVD" that my local dealer's Toyota rep claimed was no longer being made and that they couldn't get? The one that took me <30 minutes on the phone with the "Toyota Experience Center" to get them to send to me? I must have more "pull" than the Toyota rep does.

(I suspect that the local Toyota rep told them that the recall was over after 31 December 2005, and if the dealer didn't remember to order the part in time, it was their fault -- and at their cost. So they tried to feed me a line about how it wasn't their fault.)

(Too bad it's not v5.1 or greater -- it's v4.2. Still, I'll take what I can get.)

Anyhow. Now I gotta install it. I'm certainly not taking it to the dealer to do that, that's for sure...

Peace and Prosperity,
Dipesh